Borderlands Strategy Guide – Road Warriors: Bandit Apocalypse Part 1

You need to get to New Haven and Mad Mel won’t let you pass, so you’ll have to go right through him. You’ll be using a runner for the entire battle, so make sure you choose the weapon that you truly think you’ll do the best with. Like I said before, solo players who use lock-on have the best luck using machine guns against runners. Rockets are more powerful, true, but they can be outrun. Besides, a steady stream of bullets can be more devastating than you think.

Make sure that you’re ready before you drive over that hill into Mad Mel’s Racetrack, because there’s no turning back from there. And if your vehicle is destroyed, you’ll have to go at it on foot, which is more or less certain death. If you do die, you can get a new runner before coming back, so don’t think this is your only chance.

Keep in mind that Mel won’t show himself until the first batch of riders is taken out. If you find yourself low on shields when you get down to the last rider, let them recharge before taking the enemy out. You don’t want to start on Mel with low shields. He’s tough enough as it is.

If you happen to die while fighting the riders, don’t immediately jump back into the track. You might have some luck sniping from the top of the entry ramp. You can even take Mel out this way, but it requires considerable skill. Still, it’s worth a shot given how much trouble you can save yourself. You can also try a rocket launcher, but it’s difficult to aim from this far. You’re much better off saving that ammunition in case you need it in the track.

But let’s say for the sake of arguement that you either don’t have a sniper rifle (which really shouldn’t be the case) or are just really bad with it. You’re going to have to take down Mel the old-fashioned way: runner to runner. Get ready.